Philip Nichols and his bag of tricks
by qsmadness007
Summary: A story about the cult leader from Ties that bind A may challenge Profilerfans fic
1. Learning from the world atop a tree

Name: Philip Nichols and his bag of tricks.  
Rating: PG-13 (for language)  
Summary: The cult leader from "Ties that bind" begins his descent into the cult life.

Part 1: Learning about the world from atop a tree.

The foliage reflects a deep orange from the setting of the sun. A boy about 18 is planted on one of the taller trees. The man has brown hair, and his eyes are covered by thick black framed glasses, and his built is medium, that without looking at the glasses you might not place his high school social class. He seems to be in a calm stay, with his book on his lap, and his backpack next to him. He seems as if he belongs in the tree. His mind as he is reading seems to be concentrating on each word as if he can absorb it into his body.

In two days, he will be graduating from high school, and he is ready to go out and try to conquer the world. He doesn't like it here in Georgia. He doesn't understand why his dad stays here, sure it is near his job, but his job, to Nichols, at the Milford and Robard Tobacco Company had always seemed a joke.

"Hey Dweeb, get down from that tree. It's time for supper. Dad, will be pissed if you are late again, Philip." A more muscular boy, who is about 15, stands at the bottom of the tree, looking up at him. He is wearing a football jersey, and there are strings of his black hair scattered in his face.

"Leave me the hell, alone, Asshole!" Philip places one hand on his glasses so they don't fall off as he gazes hatefully at his younger brother. He had disturbed his quietness, now it is going to take him hours to make this anger that is forming to go away. His brother has no sense of meditation, and to clear his mind of everything. Who does he think he is anyway, demanding him to do things? Things would have been better if assholes like Edward didn't think they could do what ever the hell they wanted to. Edward will be sorry when Philip takes control of the world.

Edward shakes his head. "I can easily make Penny climb up there, and get you out of there, she says she has been pulling you out of trees since you were eight."

"Fucking Wanker." Philip comments as he puts his book, and his glasses in his backpack, and then zips it up. He puts it on his back, and begins to climb down the tree almost simian like. He gets to the bottom of the tree, and faces his brother, being reminded that his brother is almost an inch shorter than he is. "Eddie, you and dad are going to regret everything you've done to me, when I make it on my own."

Edward laughs at him. "Right, you have been saying that forever, Philip, You don't even have the balls to leave this town, because if I am not mistaken aren't you suppose to start an internship with Dad's company in three days."

Philip resists the urge to spit in his face to watch his reaction. "You can't prove I will even take that job."

"Yeah, Mr. High and Mighty…What are you going to do then, work at McDonald's, because we all know you aren't smart enough to go to college or something." He laughs cruelly.

Philip shoves him, causing him to fall to the ground. "Bastard. I have a higher IQ than you."

Edward gets up, brushing himself off. "Yeah, but you have no common sense."

"Don't think I can't fucking kill you." Philip murmurs under his breath. 

"What was that?"

"I said, don't make me beat the crap out of you."

Edward chuckles. "Yeah right…You better be glad that I am not going to retaliate because you are graduating in two days, and dad will kill me if I mess up your ugly face."


	2. Let there be silence

Part 2 : Let there be silence.

Philip sits at the small table, watching his family as they eat dinner, Royce, his father is chatting away with his brother, and occasionally Penny, the nanny, who is the only help allowed to sit at the table, is throwing in a few words. He is staring down at his meal. He can't believe that his father had the staff cook lasagna again, he hates lasagna. They know he hates lasagna, but Edward seems to like it so they cook it almost twice a week, since for some reason they treat Edward as if he is the golden boy, while he has been relinquished to some other title, which he isn't sure what it is. He wishes sometimes that Edward had never been born. But at least what ever Philip's reputation, he has the staff scared of him for the most part which seems to suit him.

"You aren't eating, dear." Penny comments, looking over at him with a concerned expression. This is the third night this week that he hasn't eaten.

"He's being a dork, again." Edward comments.

Philip sends a hatred glare his way. "Can I be excused?" He gets up from the table without asking, and walks out of the room.

Royce gets up, but Penny stops him. "I can go after him, don't worry about him, sir." She walks after him "Phil!" She calls as she catches him going up the stairs.

He turns to glare at her, the corner of his mouth seeming to form into a smirk. "What do you want?" There is a slight bit of anger in his voice, which he has deliberately mixed in with a bit of smoothness, which seems he knows creeps her out, because she once said it sounded like he could read her mind.

"I just want to make sure you are okay, that is the third night this week you haven't eaten." She cowers a little, watching him.

"It is also the third night this week that the little weasel conned the staff into making him lasagna. I will eat something later, Okay!" His intense blue eyes watch her through the thick glasses. He needs to remember when he is on his own to get glasses, which have almost transparent frames. He is tired of the ones that his father always seems to make him wear. Though his father has a lot of money, he doesn't like to spend it on things like glasses, which he calls frivolous matters. If Edward wore glasses it would be different, but since Philip is the only one who wears them they are frivolous. One day he is going to show them the price that is to be paid for putting his needs last. There was no need for this, Philip was the oldest, and his mind that always meant he should get special treatment, but for some reason his father favored Edward because he was the baby.

"Okay, I am sorry…I can talk to the chefs and see if the next few nights they will make something that you like. Do you want me to bring you a sandwich?"

"Leave me alone, woman! I will eat later." Philip says, and pounds his way up the rest of the stairs. He comes to the landing, and walks to the end of the hall, where his room is. This is the only thing about his father's favoritism that he does not mind; he prefers having the bedroom that is farthest away from everyone else in the house. He reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a silver key, unlocking the door. He opens the door, walking through the black beaded curtains, to what he calls his abode. He had decorated it mostly from his weekly allowance, he had pillows scattered on the floor for him to sit on, posters of various eastern beliefs, bookcases stacked with all sorts of books, and a very neatly made up bed, that reminded him of what he thought a bed in Indian might look like. He had decorated it like this, not because he was a major fan of eastern culture. He did like it, it had its value, but he did it mainly because he knew his father hated anything that wasn't American, and though at times he could tolerate European stuff, he absolutely despised eastern culture stuff. So, Philip had decorated his room like that, to make sure at least that his father would never set foot inside his room. He jumps on the big bed, and reaches under the mattress, and pulls out a large coffee table style book, which has pictures of the United States. He has been looking through the book for a few days, because he has to figure out where he wants to go in three days, because he is getting out of this hell-hole right after he graduates.


	3. A little methophorical bloodshed

Part 3: A little metaphorical blood shed

He puts the gun together skillfully, watching the sixteen year old chess player as he does so. He seems to enjoy the feeling that the boy is starting to fear him. This gives him an odd satisfaction that makes his whole body tingle. He wonders if this is the feeling some people get when they are in love. What ever the feeling he likes it. This feeling that he can suddenly do god-like things because he can control every emotion of this little frightened kid, whose wavy brown hair is falling into his face blocking his eyes from what Philip is doing. Philip chuckles notices the boy's fingernails are tearing into his palm as he waits patiently to see what is going to happen.

"Are you going to hurt me?" The boy's voice is barely a whisper, as he says it. As if he is scared to say it, like by asking the question he might get some other punishment. He doesn't like this abandoned warehouse that they are in. It frightens him, it makes him wonder if Philip does kill him, how long it will take people to find him.

Philip doesn't say anything, just lifts the gun where he assembled it on the table. He holds the gun up towards the boy, watching his brown corduroy pants, he wants to see if this action will make the boy wet himself because he thinks it will make the experience more enjoyable, since then Philip will have control over more than his fear. He gives him a smile, the corner of his lips raising up slightly making it almost seem like a smirk. "BANG!" He shouts!

The boy drops to the floor as if he is hit; he covers his heads with his hands. He begins to feel urine running down his legs as he falls to the floor.

Philip laughs softly, an amused sort of laughter. The smile on his face enlarges. "For a genius who skipped two grades, you really are a stupid fellow." His smile changes to a smirk. He sets the gun back on the table, and disassembles it quickly.

The boy moves his hands, and looks up at Philip. "I don't understand why you are doing this? I thought you were my friend?" He checks for blood.

"Who said I wasn't. I am trying to teach you to be more observant." Philip smiles again after speaking. He changes the tone of his voice to a whinny voice, which is his imitation of the boy "I need help Philip…I am blind sometimes, I need to become more observant to non academic things."

The boy gets up slowly. "That's not what I meant." There is terror in his voice, as if he isn't sure what Philip is going to do next.

"I was just trying to help. I thought you liked police dramas and such." Philip turns his smile into a look of fake disappointment, and turns on his heels to walk out of the room. "See you at graduation, Tim."

"I don't understand…." The boy seems confused, and he is unsure if he should go after Philip or not.

Philip turns back, the same sad disappointed frown on his face. "Oh, course you don't…If you were observant, you would have seen that the bullet wasn't loaded, and now next time you will watch for that."

The boy stares at him for a moment, frozen. He is not sure what to do, or what to say. He was never taught to look for loading of a gun, and before today, he doesn't even remember ever seeing a gun except on television, and movies.

"I have to go work on some other stuff." Philip looks down at the boy's pants, with a smirk. "You might want to go home yourself and change those."


	4. A whisper in the wind

Part 4: A whisper in the wind.

The blue cap gets thrown off his head as he walks back into the house. His father made him keep the hat, so when it had been thrown up at the ceremony; he had been forced to retrieve it afterwards. He throws the blue robe on the floor. He is about to head up to his room, when Penny who is coming in the door behind him, clears her throat softly. "What are you doing, Philip?"

"Going to my room, bitch." His voice is calm and low as he says it, and he turns softly on his feet, and picks up the cap and gown, and opens the closet door near by, and throws them on a hanger. He then, proceeds to walk up the stairs to his room, leaving her pondering his behavior. And he knows she is staring at him the whole time, as he does this.

When he gets up to the room, he checks the clock. He has two hours before he has to go to the big dinner thing that his father is planning, since his father is pretending he is proud of Philip. He is probably proud that soon, or so he thinks, his son is going to follow in his footsteps. He closes the door behind him. Two hours should be plenty of time to do what he needs to do, and since they will all be getting ready, since his father is planning on taking them to a fancy restaurant, which means he requires them to dress up more than what they would for the graduation, none of them will notice what he will be doing in that amount of time.

He undoes his tie and throws it on the bed. He then strips off the white oxford shirt, throwing it on the bed as well. He undoes the belt, and pulls it quickly through the loops. He unbuttons his gray slacks, and unzips them, and steps out of them. He surveys the room in his undershirt, and red boxer shorts. He can't actually remove a lot from the room, or then, they might be suspect. He is glad that his bathroom is in his room, unlike Edward who had to use a restroom in the hall.

He goes into the bathroom, stepping into the shower stall so that the water won't hit him. He pulls the frosted glass doors closed, and turns the nuzzles hard. He steps under the shower for a moment to test it. It will do. He opens one of the doors slightly, stepping out. His family knows he takes hot steamy showers, so that should be enough steam if they come to check on him, which eventually they will. He does a shake to get some of the water off of him, stopping at the mirror; he makes sure his hair is okay.

If he had more time, he would make this plan run smoother, where there would be at least a day time to plan out everything, but he doesn't have time for that. He hadn't expected some of his relatives to be in town. He was actually going to do this tomorrow, act like he was going to work, but then disappear, but this plan was actually more fun. And when his dad told him yesterday they were having dinner with the relatives and it had been planned for weeks, it made him excited, because that was an even better plan. All the relatives had already given him the cards earlier in the day with the cash, or the presents that they were going to give him, but dinner was a formality.

He walks back into his room, opening his dresser drawer, and pulling out a pair of blue jeans, and slips them on. He then opens another drawer and pulls out a blue t-shirt and pulls it on. He goes to his desk, and picks up his wallet and his keys, stuffing them into his pocket. He then, thinks again and throws his keys on the desk. He pulls out the wallet, and pulls out all the stuff from it, and stuffs the id and credit cards and such in his pocket. He counts the money; there is almost $500 thanks to the relatives, and a $200 dollar donation from one of the men who worked at his dad's company. He pulls his backpack off the back of the chair. And then, stares at his room. He grabs a couple changes of clothes out of the open dresser drawers, and stuffs them into the backpack. He then goes to the bed and pulls out the coffee table book from under the mattress, and puts it in the backpack. Above his bed is his book case and he grabs a couple paper backs, and throws them in. He sets the backpack on the bed for a moment.

He looks around the room again. He doesn't need much else; if he takes anything else they will be suspicious. He thinks. What will they think he did? He closes the closet door, they will probably figure he threw his backpack in there, since that is what he usually does at the end of summer. He thinks again. Opens the closet door, and pulls out the briefcase he is supposed to use tomorrow. He sets it on the desk chair. He then pulls out one of the better suits from the closet and drapes it on the bed as if he has plans to change into it. He then, closes the closet door again.

He picks up the backpack off the bed, and puts it on. He then draws open the red curtains, and then, pulls open the heavy window. He jumps lightly into the tree near the window, and quickly scales the tree downward. He walks quickly and softly past the house, and just keeps walking.


	5. The Birth of Odin

The days stretch out as he catches a ride with a lonely trucker. The man has many stops, and Philip must sit in the truck patiently waiting. He is not sure why he waits, he could easily slip out of the truck and go find someone else to give him a ride, but he likes this man. The man doesn't talk to him that much, giving him time to plan anything that he might be scheming. The man didn't concern himself with a lot of personal info, and they did not exchange names, though occasionally they would share stories, or random pieces of information.  
Also, sometimes the man tells him stories from when he was in Vietnam, and how the world was in the sixties. He tells him gruesome stories about the battles. How the man had run into many kids with bombs strapped to them. He also talks about watching some of his buddies die. Philip's favorite is the story about how the man was patrolling ahead to try to find a safe place for him and the people with him. And one of his best friends, someone who he had known since kindergarten in the small Ohio town where they had grown up was with him. They had almost tripped over a Viet Cong who was sleeping, so the man had disposed of him quickly as he still slept, on the jungle floor, with a slit to the throat. As the man had been disposing of the Viet Cong, his buddy was walking further ahead. He was only ten feet away from the man when he stepped on a land mine, and the pieces of his carcass flew straight at the man.  
The trucker lets Philip off in Kansas. Philip has asked him to leave him there, he wasn't sure why, but he felt like going into the rural areas of the country for awhile. At Wichita, where Philip gets out at the truck stop, and watched the trucker go on his way, he sees a bumper sticker advertising for Odin, Kansas. He decides to use Odin as an alias, because he doesn't want to tell people his real name. He figures it is for the best, so that people don't associate him with his tobacco king father.  
He actually thought it is funny, and wonders why he hadn't thought of it before; It took him only a second for him to change himself into godlike status, and he was going to make sure he let people know it. He figures he will have to start using it outside of Kansas though, since he doesn't want people to think it is after the town. But if they haven't heard of the town, and ask, he will be happy to tell them the story of Odin the norse god, and his many adventures. He will tell people that his parents were literature majors, and also hippies, and had named all their children weird names.  
The first time he uses it is in Tennessee.  
He had caught a ride there with another trucker. At one of the truck stops after he had been let out, he meet a woman named Melinda. A hot little number with bleached blonde hair, smoky sexy grey eyes, and a taunt little figure. He told her his name, and she recognizes the meaning instantly.  
She was a librarian, well a fired librarian. She had been fired because she grew up in a small town, and they had had to close down the library because of lack of funds. So, she was taking a road trip across country.  
The night they first met after eating dinner at the truck stop they went to the hotel that she was staying. He sat on the bed as she brushed her hair in front of him. It turned him on. They talk about random and meaningless things for awhile, and then the conversation turns.  
---  
"You look kind of young," She says in a sultry voice, sitting next to him on the bus. She is gazing into his blue eyes, watching the glimmer and sparkle, and mezmerize her as she talks.  
He had taken the glasses off earlier, he can mostly see for the most part, just some of the things on the edge of the room are a bit blurry. He gives her a soft con-man smile. "I am a bit young, but I skipped a few grades." He moves himself closer to her on the bed. He doesn't want to give her the impression that he has never been with a woman. That is not the kind of thing that Odin would be like. In his mind, Odin is an enchanter, a don juan, he has had many dates, and he has more to come. He touches her knee softly, caressing it lovingly. He likes the feel of the silk   
"Ahh, a genius then." She smiles, moving closer to him as well. She is beginning to like this kid. She thinks he is about 20, which is only six years younger than herself. She believes him to be more worldly because she can't see through his lies. She is too attracted to his eyes, and his mannerisms. She feels herself losing all will power, and wanting to let him take her.  
He doesn't answer just pulls her into a deep passionate kiss, his tongue slipping into her mouth so he can explore it.  
She doesn't protest, as the kiss deepens farther, and he pushes her onto the bed.


	6. first cult member

AN: In this part of the story, and maybe from this point on Philip will be referred to as Odin, since that is the image he is projecting to people. If for some reason, it seems he needs to be called Philip for a chapter or two, or whatever. I will let you know.  
The author's dad helped with some of the hotel construction projects, so by remembering about the time he worked on some of them, and also from double checking on the internet, The Polynesian was being worked on in 1978, which since this takes place about 20 years before "Ties that bind" it fits right into the time period. But unfortunately, not having been born in 1978, I just realize that some of this stuff might be inaccurate. So, sorry for that. I should have probably written that earlier in the story, but it didn't cross my mind…oops Unfortunately, I can't ask by dad about Orlando at that time period. And my mom wouldn't know, because she wasn't in that area at the time.

Melinda and Odin end up in Orlando. He seems to like it. She is not happy. She is expecting a place of sunshine and oranges, and not rain and hurricane season. She doesn't understand him. They have both decided to get odd jobs, and while he seems to have found a construction job helping with an expansion of the Polynesian resort at Disney world, which was actually considered in Lake Buena Vista, so, he would conveniently steal her car every day. She spends the day pacing around the motel room where they have holed up.  
In the afternoons, when it is raining she doesn't understand why he just goes outside. He seems very comfortable playing in the rain. He sits out there for hours. She can't figure out him at all. Especially, when it starts lightning. Something attracts him about the lightning. And since it usually rains after a long day of work, he comes in after the lightning almost electrically charged. His blue eyes bright with danger, and arousal, and his body statically charged. This is not the adventure she had set out for, and he scares her. More and more it seems he easily takes her, she struggled at first when she was not in the mood, but now, she doesn't. He seems to have this animal energy about him.  
As the days go by, she also begins to question more and more things about him. His eyes give the impression he is much older, than he seems, especially his dorky glasses, but his very chiseled body, seem to make him seem younger than he is, and if she didn't know any better she would wonder if besides the glasses if he couldn't have gotten into that one magazine she had secretly looked at awhile back with the half nude men. Also, his fumbling ways at time when it came to the sex, made her question. She wouldn't had been so shocked if the glasses hadn't come out after they had gotten to Orlando. They were thick glasses, and it surprised her how she had not noticed his squinting, and such before. They were obviously a big prescription.  
He also seemed to be making a lot of friends on the construction night, and would hang out with them for hours. She went with them a few times to some of the bars, and it made her wonder if he had ever had friends that excepted him as one of the guys. Though for the most part he seemed to pretend that he was a strong construction man, one of the boys, like everyone else, there was something about his personality that made him stand out from them, and seem out of place. But the other guys seemed not to notice, because there was a smaller man in the group whom they had dubbed Ping. A small set man from Puerto Rico whose eyes were slightly too close together, and whose black hair always fell in his eyes. He was a bit clumsy, and apparently had to redo things that he did at least three times. He also has very small feet, and seems to walk at times like a penguin. Odin seems to take great pleasure in taunting the poor man, and Ping seems to adore him for it.  
Melinda wanted to leave, and was getting impatient. She tried not to but almost every day she found herself gripping to Odin about the way things were turning out.  
---

Three weeks into their stay, Odin goes out to drink one night. He doesn't even look at her, when he comes in, just changes shoes, and then, heads out to the bar, not even telling him where he is going. Melinda takes that he is preoccupied, and decides to be good and not push it. She doesn't want to have a fight with him. She decides to head to bed, early.  
An hour later, she hears the door open. She expects it is Odin, and just rolls over in bed, not seeing the short frame in the doorway.


	7. no turning back

The room is dark enough where Ping can barely see his footfalls on the carpet as he creeps into the room quietly. He is not sure why he is even doing this. It confuses him why Odin trusts him this much, to carry this out.  
Ping really likes Odin. He has never met anyone quite like him, and though Odin seems to make the most jokes of anyone about Ping, it seems different. There seems to be more understanding in the way he treats him, like Odin has been in a similar spot in his life. Plus, there is something about Odin that intrigues Ping. Odin seems to have the ability to tap into the soul of everyone, though; he won't do it when people are there. The few times that Ping and Odin have hung out alone, there seemed to be a marvelous connection, like Odin knows everything about Ping without even asking. This is one of the reasons Ping agreed to do this thing.  
He feels a bit silly in his all black outfit, sneaking into the room like a cat burglar. Odin had told him he could do this in his regular clothes, but Ping had thought it might be easier to do it in this pseudo disguise.  
He closes the door as he enters the room, he hears the woman called Melinda stir. She seems to think he is Odin, which is the plan. In his left hand is the small pocket knife that Odin had given him. The blade isn't very sharp, and the handle is made of wood. Ping isn't even sure where Odin got the knife from, it seems so cheaply made. But Odin said that this was the knife that had to be used. Ping was going to protest but then he gazed into the beautiful sparkling blue eyes, and he felt he had no choice. The right thing to do was to do what Odin told him to do.  
Ping gets to the foot of the bed, staring down at Melinda. It seems a waste to kill such a pretty face. It will all be over soon though, and even though Odin told him he had to call the cops, so the body could be found, that Odin would do all he could to make sure Ping didn't get charged for the crime. He thinks it will be even harder to pretend to hurt Odin before the police get here, so the police buy the story that Odin says he has concocted.  
She flutters open her eyes for a moment, seeing him stand above her. She is not awake enough to scream, she is just confused.  
He presses the cold metal to her throat, and slashes her neck, letting the blood drip on the cheap motel sheets.  
---  
Odin stands outside the hotel room, his hair askew, and holding a piece of ice to his eye. His glasses are in his pocket. His face is trying to maintain a look of total sadness and confusion.  
An Orlando Police officer walks up to him. "Do you want us to call anyone for you?"  
He shakes his head, as if numb. "No …I think I can handle all the arrangements." He puts his head in his hands. "It just came as such a great shock. Did Ping say why he did it?"  
"No, but he seems hopeful, that he can easily get out of this."  
"It's weird realizing you had been working with a monster." Odin raises his head, to put the ice back on his eye. Inside he is smirking, wondering if he should visit Ping in jail to make him think that he is doing what he said, or just let him rot


	8. the empty feeling

Part 8: The empty feeling

The sun streams brightly into Odin's new rented room, as he takes off his glasses and wipes his eyes. The apartment is a small one he found cheap, and has no paper trial attached to it. It is one of the worst neighborhoods in Orlando, and though it is not nicely furnished as the motel room, or his room at home. He finds himself enjoying it immensely, it is Abby Hoffmanish in nature, meaning the apartment seems to be furnished with furniture that was made with cement blocks, and ply wood, or any other thing that was available. The only real furniture is the mattress on the floor, and a hard wooden chair he had found on the side of the road. The windows were bare, and it seemed to him that this is the type of apartment that he should get to make it not look suspicious.

He places the book down he was reading carefully on the top of the large piece of plywood that serves as the desk top. He sets his glasses on top of the book. He yawns loudly, and pushes his hand to the side of his jaw, cracking it loudly. He then cracks the other side, and gets up and stretches. His insomnia has been kicking in a lot lately, so he had spent most night up reading. He glances at the wall, where he has a cheap calendar he had gotten from one of the many banks in town up. Today is his day off, which means it has been a week since he had gotten out of Melinda's grasp, by having Ping kill her.

He uncrosses his legs, and gets up from the chair, padding over to the small corner of the room where the bathroom area is. He uses the bathroom, and washes his hands. He then throws water on his face, his blue eyes watching the reflection in the mirror. He pretends to throw on a grin on his face, but it doesn't work. Though, he is enjoying being away from his family, and starting this new life something is missing. He is not sure what it is, but he is going to find out.

30 minutes later dressed in a blue polo, some slacks, and some sandals he stands in front of the Orange County Jail. He opens the door, stepping inside, he lets them know who he wants to see, signs himself in as "Andrew Douglas," and one of the guards takes him to the visitor's room to see Ping.

"Odin, you came to visit me, I didn't think you were going to come." Ping says upon entering the room a few seconds later, after the guard who had escorted him leaves.

Odin pulls one of the chairs towards him, turns it backwards, and sits on the chair. "Sit down." His voice is calm, and measured.

Ping does as he is told. He gives him a small smile. He sits across from him at one of the tables.

The corner of Odin's mouth twitch in an almost smirk. "I am still working on getting you out, but I need you to tell me something?"

"Sure, sure what?"

"Tell me everything that happened when you killed her, don't leave anything out. I want to know how it felt to do it." His blue eyes sparkle with curiosity.

"It wasn't fun. I didn't want to do it. I felt bad about it. She seemed so pretty."

Odin stands up quickly. "I am afraid I am not sure I can help you get off." Odin walks out of the room, wishing he had a pair of sunglasses instead of his regular frames to cover the anger that is starting to fill his eyes. That was not the answer he was expecting to hear.


	9. Hypnotizing 101

Part 9: Hypnotizing 101

Two weeks later, Odin sits with his glasses on the table of the booth, staring into a cup of coffee, studying the clouds that the creamer made. His arms are sitting under the table, as he studies the coffee. He is thinking about murder; how he can satisfy his need to watch people die, especially certain people, but not get instantly linked to it. He wrote a letter to Charlie Manson last week, but has yet to get a reply. He hears someone approach him.

"Philip Nichols?" A soft feminine voice asks him, standing at the edge of the booth.

He looks up, seeing a black leather mini skirt and nice tan legs at the edge of the booth. His eyes travel farther up to a two large flotation devices squeezed into a sheer tight red blouse, and a graceful neck, and a familiar face, framed by California beach blond hair. He gives her a Bogart smile. "Morgan Richards, how nice to see you." He isn't quite sure if the first name is right, but he does know she is one of the Richards twins who went to his high school. How odd that she is here in Orlando. But considering it is not that far away from Georgia.

"Actually it is Marilyn, Morgan is my sister. People are always confusing us though." She gives him a sweet smile. "Can I join you?"

"Sure." He makes sure to keep his voice somewhat soft to make her strain to hear every word. He figures unlike in high school, where she was the cheerleader, and he was the geek, he has the power, even though it has only been a few months since they graduated. He doesn't mind the presence of a beautiful woman.

"I never noticed how handsome you look without your glasses." She comments sliding across from him in the booth. "Can you still see?"

"I'm not blind, just a bit of myopia." He gives her a soft smile. He is hatching a plan; this chance meeting may come in handy.

She stares at him, unsure what he said.

He chuckles. "Near-sighted." He says with a conman smile, and then slips his glasses on his face. They are a newer pair than the ones he had been wearing with thinner frames, not exactly the almost transparent ones that he longs for but close enough for now. He had bought them a few days ago with some money he had found in Melinda's suitcases. He put them on to see if there is anyone else from his old school he didn't know in the diner. He would hate for this to be some kind of joke. "So, what brings you to the sunny state?" He smiles again.

"I was going to UCF, but I dropped out, and I am going to try to work at Disney, be one of the characters. I think I would be a shoe in to play Cinderella, or sleeping beauty." She gives him a soft smile. "I can't believe you are here, I always thought you would go to MIT or something." Her voice had dropped to a sort of whisper. "I always had a crush on you, but I was so worried about the cliché system I felt scared to talk to you. You have always had this secret allure."

A grin spreads on his face. He has sufficiently scanned the place and notices it is only her. He moves his arms back under the table. "Hmm…that is interesting." He wonders if he should dare to do what he is thinking. "I work at Disney, you know, I am one of the construction workers at the Polynesian." There is almost a purr in his voice.

"Really?" Her eyes widen a little. "Wow!"

"I might be able to get you a job as one of the characters." The purr continues in his voice, and his blue eyes stay locked with hers. He slides his hand till it is to her knee, and begins to massage it under the table.

"You would do that." She says, moving her leg slightly so that he can move his hand up a little farther. She is mesmerized by his eyes, how they stay trained on her, never blinking.

He doesn't say anything just moves his hand where he can brush her underwear slightly. He pauses to see if she is going to slap him.

"Can I see your apartment?" She says, raising an eyebrow.

He smiles. "Let's go." He reaches into his pocket throwing some money on the table, and then slides out of the booth.

She does the same, and he throws an arm around her waist, and they walk out of the restaurant.


	10. the road to the first seperation

Part 10: the road to the first separation

They have sex for several hours, and then afterwards Marilyn lies in his arms, trying to recover her breathe. "I totally should have done this in high school…You are better than anyone, I've had sex with." She rolls on the bed, so she can look him in the face.

He kisses her nose playfully. He smiles at her. He has been working out a plan in his head, since she walked over. And though he enjoys sex, he is glad that unlike women he doesn't get emotionally connected because of sex. He gives her a smile. "If I could I would stay with you forever in this bed."

"I wish I could stay with you, too." She frowns a little bit.

He pushes a strand of hair out of her face, and lovingly places it in the position that it belongs. "What is it? You can tell me."

"If I tell Morgan about this, she is going to freak out. She always would make fun of me, because of my crush on you." She burrows into his chest a little, uncertain.

He kisses her forehead lightly. "But what does it matter what she thinks."

"Well..." She looks up at him nervously, biting her lower lip. "I want this to be more than sex, you seem like such a cool person, and I know we technically just started this thing…" She frowns, unsure if she should go on.

"I don't bite." He jokes playfully. "You can tell me."

She looks into his eyes, then nods. She takes a deep breath, as if just by looking into his eyes everything is okay. "If this leads to say marriage…Morgan and I are supposed to have a double marriage, and she would be so mad at me if we got engaged…she wouldn't do it."

He smirks. "Well, if we get engaged, and she refuses to have a double wedding, we can always kill her." He then chuckles softly to make it seem like he is joking.

She chuckles softly and nervously. "Yeah, we could kill her." She laughs again. "You have a weird sense of humor, Philip."

He laughs loudly. "I know." He smirks again, making sure that his eyes appear to be joking, even though they aren't really. He kisses her forehead. "We don't have to tell her right now if you don't want, I mean it is brand new, and I am sure she is busy with her classes and such."

She smiles, feeling reassured. "You are right. She's very studious. Plus, this is too new to really tell anyone right now, because then, I would have to share you in a way with the world."

"Well, then we will just stay here for now." He says, touching his lips to hers, and turning where he is on top of her. He smiles internally, knowing that if he can get several things out of this arrangement that he wants, if he can get her to stay in long enough. He had always been the one who couldn't bag the girl, and now he is going to be the one with the girl, and then, eventually with a tool to kill some of the people from high school who held him down.

She giggles, pulling away from the kiss. "Sounds like a plan." She then continues the kiss, shifting under him, where she doesn't end up on her back.


	11. encouragement to the path of evil

Part 11: encouragement for the path of evil

Two Saturdays, one of the rare Saturdays he has off, and he sits in the dinner, where he and Marilyn ,met reading a book. They are supposed to meet for lunch; she is shopping now, so Odin figures that he might be waiting awhile. He had gotten her as a character, she only worked 4 days, unlike the 6 he usually worked, and thus since she had three days off, she liked to blow her money. She was just a rich party girl after all, and her dad just kept sending her money. This is fine by him, because it also means he can skim money for her and buy some of the things he wants, even though he does have money for his own.

He hears someone slide into the booth next to him, and just presumes it is Marilyn, so continues to read the paragraph he was reading when he hears "Hey Dweeb"

He puts the book down recognizing the face. His younger brother Edward is smirking at him. He looks almost as he did when Philip left, except for the fact that his hair has been cut to below his ears. Their father or Penny must have made him do it. They probably made Edward take the internship he was supposed to take, which slightly amused Odin, but he keeps the smirk off his face. "What is it you want, Lit-tle Bro-ther," He says separating the last two words so that they are said almost in jest. He was going to ask him was doing here, but he really doesn't care, especially since he can probably figure it out.

"No hey, how's it going, why are you doing here, you just want to know what I want?" Edward feigns mocked hurt.

"I don't care about that stuff. Either tell me what you want, or leave my personal space, I am waiting for someone."

"Dad's here too," He nods with his head in the direction of where their father is watching them as he pretends to read a business newspaper.

"And?" Odin arches his eyebrows a little.

"What are you doing anyway, Philip, don't you want to come home, you just abandon us…we decided to keep our mind off your disappearance by taking a trip, we were going to go to D.C. but then we heard from Mr. Richards you were here, because Marilyn is so infatuated with you…"

Odin cuts him off. "Stop with the whining. You personally don't want me back home. You just want me to go home since it is making Dad upset. I am 18; I am allowed to make my own decisions." He is glaring at his little brother, not believing Edward had the nerve to try to make him feel guilty for something that he had promised he would do.

Edward reaches into his pocket. "Dad figured you would be that way." He throws a piece of paper on the table towards Odin. "He said you were stubborn, and if this is how it had to be, that you might need this."

Odin picks up the paper; it is a check for $25,000 made out to Cash, which is the exact amount of his trust fund. He keeps his face perfectly still, and folds it neatly and puts it in his front jean pocket. "Okay, tell him thank you, and if there is nothing else, you can go now."

Edward scowls. "That is it. You aren't even going to try to go home. I don't think it is far that you misbehave and you get rewarded. You're just going to take the check and throw your family away."

"LEAVE!" He is tired of his brothers little melodrama.


	12. One person's clarity

Part 12: One person's clarity

"So?" Marilyn asks sitting across from Odin in the diner. He hasn't said anything for a few minutes. He is just staring into his coffee cup likes he does sometimes when there is something pressing on his mind.

His blue eyes glance up from the coffee, as if he didn't realize she had been sitting there for more than a half hour, and until five minutes ago they had been having a good conversation. "So?"

"So, what are you going to do?" She gives him a soft concerned smile.

"About what?" He pretends to not know what she is talking about.

"About the check your father gave you." She tilts her head, giving him a quizzical look. She takes a sip of her iced tea.

He frowns back down at his coffee. He takes a bite of the scrambled eggs on his plate. One of the reasons he liked this place is that they served breakfast food at all hours. He is not sure what he is supposed to say to her. He has been getting this sense of ennui ever since he saw his brother and father leave. He probably would have gone back to the apartment to try to clear his head, but Marilyn had shown up.

"Are you okay, Ph…Odin?" Marilyn tilts her head, so that she catches his eyes.

He looks up at her. "Do you think it was rude to yell at my brother?"

She gets up, and then walks to his side of the booth, sliding in besides him. She puts her arm around his shoulders.

He turns to her, and gives her a sad smile. "I hate how you can see through the con man act." His words are soft. He feels bad, since for about a month he has been in a really sour mood. She has been the only one to realize it though, which in a way helps. He hates being in a bad mood, especially since it has been one of the bittersweet ones that he gets in from time to time, where it is hard to not think clearly, since his mind is in a fog. He had figured out from one of his books, that it might be depression. But other than this feeling, he had almost everything he had wanted, especially after today the freedom from the restraining life that he always wanted. Now, he was free to cut his ties completely, and to totally forge a whole new different kind of life.

"You love me for it, too." She runs her fingers through his hair.

"I do." They share a kiss.

"We should start a cult." She says, stealing a bit of his eggs. She had finished her tuna sandwich a few minutes ago.

"What?" He looks at her confused, wondering when she learned to read his mind.

"You heard me, silly." She giggles, the sort of fake blonde laugh that he thought at one time was the only thing she knew how to do well. She picks up the last piece of his bacon, and splits it in half, eating half, and handing the other half to Odin.

He gives her a smile. "That is an intriguing idea, especially for two people who put on an act for most of the world." He takes a long draw from his coffee. He takes the other piece of bacon.

She kisses his forehead. "Exactly, and I am sure we can def. start a better cult than some of those people you read about, especially since you took the money."

"Love you." He says, kissing her cheek, and then popping the piece of bacon in his mouth. He gives her a broad smile.


	13. cold steel and bourbon

Ch. 13

Cold Steel and Bourbon

Philip sits cross-legged on the carpet, his arms draped on either side of his body, wearing nothing but a pair of tightly fitting jeans. His eyes are closed and he appears to be sleeping. His glasses are no where to be seen. The lights are dimmed, several scented candles are wafting the smell of jasmine through the air, and a record of an Italian opera is playing in the background.

Marilyn comes into the apartment; she is carrying a brown paper bag, from an earlier shopping spree at the flea market. She stops when she sees him. She tilts her head slightly to look at him, smiling. Marilyn is amused to find him looking so sexy as she comes in. She had just gotten off of her shift at Disney World, and knows he has been off for a few hours. It has been a week since Odin's father had given him the check, and he had managed to deposit it quietly in one of the banks. And for awhile they have been going about life as normal. Marilyn knows soon that things are going to start to get interesting. She starts to make her way farther into the apartment, when she notices that he has opened his eyes, and is watching her.

"Hey." Odin's voice is calm and collective, almost James Dean like. He gives her a smile that could make anyone in the world do what he wants.

"Hey, you." Marilyn's voice is a bit more seductive, as she saunters over towards him, carrying the bag with her. She kicks off her black flats as she gets halfway to him.

"What did you buy before you went to work?" He smiles again, this time a shy smile, like he knows some of the things she already bought. He pats a spot near him on the carpet, so that she can sit.

Marilyn gives him a toothy grin. She then sets the bag in front of him, and then sits down beside him. She pulls the bag towards her. "Close your eyes."

"Okay." He puts his hands over his eyes, and peeks at her through the fingers.

"Don't make me blindfold you." She teases.

"Mmmm." Odin smirks at her, to show her he is contemplating it. He, then, moves his hands where his palms are over his eyes.

She begins to take things out of the bag and place them on the carpet in front of them. She then folds up the bag, and slides it across the carpet in the direction of the kitchen. "Okay, you can look."

He moves his hands, and then smirks again. The first thing he notices is a pair of small daggers, in leather sheaves. He picks one of them up, and pulls it out of the sheaf. He likes them, they have a very minimal design, on the handle there is a metal band wrapped around, and underneath the band a metal snake winds its way towards the blade. The snake's tongue is forked, and is ready to strike. Odin touches Marilyn's cheek with the cool metal. "Nice." He purrs.

"Odin really needs a sword, but I couldn't find one that would be good enough."

He kisses her forehead, still keeping the cold metal touching her cheek. "A dagger set is easier to hide." He moves his head slightly, and kisses Marilyn's lips. He moves closer on the floor to make the kiss deeper.

Marilyn gives him a smile, pulling away slightly. "Do you approve of everything else I bought?" She gently takes dagger away from him, and puts it back in its leather case.

He looks over the collection of books, the bottle of bourbon, and various other knickknacks, and smiles. "You did good, kid."


	14. Job search

Ch. 14 : Job search

Odin had this part of the plan all worked out. This had actually been a part of the plan that he had considered for a long time. A cult leader can't be tied down to one job for too long, and now with his trust fund waiting patiently in the bank for him, along with the disposable income he still had from

Melinda's "estate", and that whether she had a job or not, Marilyn would always be able to have access to money, Odin knew that he had nothing to worry about. He stepped on the work site, not wearing the usually_ uniform_ that told people he was a construction worker, but a cheap ill fitting suit, and italian loafers.

He nodded hi, in a bittersweet kind of manner, to a few guys he knew before he walked halfway across the yard, where a man with furrowed eyebrows is talking to man in a designer suit. Odin waited patiently for them to finish, making a note of how interesting the contrast was between the man with the furrowed eyebrows, Tom Clemens, foreman, who is wearing a green hardhat, work boots, jeans, and a white button up shirt, and the other man, some big wig, who has a white hardhat on, and appears in a way that the tailored designer suit he is wearing doesn't totally look out of place on this work site.

"We'll get it done, now let us work." Clemens spotted Odin standing quietly beside him, and the big wig.

He turned from the man in the designer suit to look at his assistant who stands very sadly, and meekly besides him. "Odin, you spooked me, not exactly dressed for work today."

"I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to work today, or any other day," Philip made his voice sound quiet, and depressed. "I'm going to have to quit, Tom." Odin made sure that his voice doesn't sound sarcastic, and he held any smirking for later. He wanted to look like he was in a grieving mode right now, which is the lie that he is going to be telling the foreman.

Clemens didn't say anything for a few minutes, he watched the younger man, studying his face for any chance that it might be a joke. He can't believe that he is about to lose one of his best men. "That's a shame we'd hate to see you go, you are one of the best guys that we have." Clemens managed to say concernedly.

"My mother died, her funeral is today, and then, after that my father is going to expect me to help him run the store. He can't do it by himself." Odin answered. For a story that he didn't have time to rehearse it sounded plausible, and it still kept in with the frame work of the lies that he had told the foreman about his past. The fact that a lot of the information he told people could easily have been checked and found out to be wrong, and that no one ever did was one of the things he loved about Orlando. He was glad that he had settled here, there are so many people going through at one time, that people just trust you if you sound sincere when telling them a fake life story.

Clemens patted Odin's back sympathetically. "Sorry to hear that. You take care, son. I'll have the payroll office when they prepare the paychecks have it look like you worked till the end of the week."

"You don't have to do that." Odin pretended to sound surprised.

"It's the least I can do, kid."

"Thank you. It was nice working for you. I have to go now." Odin gave him a sad sort of smile, and began to walk off the work site. Odin waited till he was completely off the site, about a block away, when he was climbing into the car, where Marilyn had been waiting for him, before he let the smirk appear on his face.


	15. losses

Ch. 15 Losses

Odin tapped his fingers against the desk as he waited, in the Orange County Jail. He can't believe this. It didn't shock him so much, as it pissed him off. He had obviously been wrong about Ping. Stupid little lackey, taking his own life. Odin had thought it would be easy to get Ping out and then have him help him commit another murder, but he came in only to find that Ping had been easily talked into hanging himself by his cell mate. Apparently, his cell mate had found him annoying, and thought it would be amusing to watch the little puetro rican harm himself.

Odin was waiting now, because apparently him pretending to be Andrew Douglas, had been the only person to come visit Ping, so therefore they were going to give Odin all of Ping's possessions from when he was arrested, and the things he had acquired from his short time in the slammer. Odin tried to maintain a calm expression on his face, he didn't want anyone to figure out that he was angry.

A small petit redhead wearing a uniform came towards Odin with a shoebox. She handed it to him. "They said you had already signed for everything, and that you didn't want to inventory it."

"I trust you guys, and if there is something missing, I am sure it is not your fault." Odin flashes a soft sad smile to her. "Thanks."

"Have a nice day, Mr. Douglas." The officer remarked as Odin walked away.

Odin walked quickly outside. He scanned the nearby area for a trashcan, found one, and then walked toward it. He set the box on top of the trashcan, and ripped the lip off violently, throwing it into the trashcan. He checked through the wallet for cash, found $20 bucks and put it in his pocket. Odin then tossed the wallet in the trashcan.

He looked through the rest of the box which contained : a yo-yo, a paperback copy of "Frankenstein", two quarters, three buttons of different sizes, and three half used pack of chewing gum. He checked the book making sure there wasn't any money stashed away in it, not finding any, he threw into the box, and then, knocked the whole box into the trash. _Maybe it would a good thing that Ping killed himself_, Odin thought, _what kind of killer would a person who seem to have an affinity for buttons and half open packs of chewing gum be._

Odin hadn't really needed Ping for his plans anyway. He just had wanted to use him since he knew he was easily brainwashable. But all was fine, Odin could still carry out with the plan that he and Marilyn had been working on. They could now probably do it easier, since they wouldn't have to worry about some idiot fucking it up while it was still in the beginning stages.


	16. planning and distractions

Ch. 16 : Planning and distractions

A/n: Some of the information from this chapter came from Wikipedia, and on a sheet of paper found on the floor, near Odin's sleeping body :

"**_Philip6 letters_**

_**6 weeks dating Marilyn**_

_**6 days since Ping killed himself**_

_**Numerology: Life path numbers**_

_**6 means strength, leadership, must feel useful to be happy**_

_**WISDOM ODIN God of Wisdom. leader, God of war**_

**_Shape changer, Psychopomps..."_** Marilyn put the sheet of paper on the exact spot on the floor after reading most of it. He has laid out all the papers, and books, and charts on a perfect order on the floor, and she knows that he will be angry if anything is taken out of place. She thinks it is cute, how he wants to make everything perfect. She wants him to be happy, so she is willing to do anything he wants when it comes to research and such.

She was about to walk into the kitchen to start dinner when she feels someone grab her ankle for a brief second. She turned towards him.

Odin sat up sleepily, rubbing his eyes a little. "Hi." He purred, with a yawn. He moved a pile of papers beside him to a place behind him, so that she could sit down if she wanted to.

She took the invitation, and sat down next to him. "Looks like you have been hard at work." She ruffled his hair a little.

He put an arm around her. "Cult planning is more tedious than I thought." He kissed her cheek softly, and then leans his head against her shoulder.

Marilyn kissed his hairline. "You know most of this stuff already though." She picked up the piece of paper she picked up earlier, and set it on his lap.

He smiled at her moving the paper to the pile he had just moved. He then placed his hand on her knee. "I know most of it, especially the Odin stuff. I just want to double check. Speaking of Odin..." He began to move his hand up towards her thigh. "What do you want your name to be?"

Marilyn put her hand on his hand, to stop it from moving up. She gave him a chasting smile. "I am not sure, yet. We can discuss it over dinner."

Odin moved his hand from her thigh, and moved it to the carpet besides Marilyn, and turned his body, where he was looking into her eyes, his body leaning over her. He kissed her deeply, and then moved his mouth to kiss the hollow of her neck. "It isn't dinner time."

Marilyn giggled. "You look hungry though." She taunts, as he continued to plant small kisses on her neck.

He moved to kiss her shoulder. "Not for dinner." He looked up at her with a wicked grin.


	17. Georgia or Bust

Ch. 17 Georgia or Bust

Several weeks pass by, and the rain seems to pour down in torrents, and Marilyn is curled up on the bed, inside the motel room that they had rented. They had decided that since technically it is the 4 day break for UCF known as fall break, that they would travel back to Georgia to see Marilyn's parents. The lightning outside seems to be right above the room. Marilyn curls herself up tighter in a ball. She listens outside to see if she can hear Odin above the roar of the thunder.

One of the former motel residents had left a punching bag tied a branch of one of the trees. Odin is using it to practice some kick-boxing moves that he picked up when he worked for a short time at a gym a few months ago. He punches the bag as hard as possible, the storm doesn't bother him at all. He is dreading having to go back. He is only doing it because it is part of the plan that he came up with. He needs to get Marilyn to cut off ties with her family. And while killing might be the best way to do it, he doesn't think Marilyn has the actual strength to kill her own family. And though a way to kill people has been worked into an equation of the cult, he always knows that for a way for this to work completely, he needs to keep his record clean. Which means he can't kill anyone, they would take him as an obvious choice, especially when they finally get to what he is planning. The ultimate plan will eventually result in the death of entire families connected to the cult. But he is sure that may take awhile before they are at that stage. He has to make it look like he has completely disappeared from the face of the earth first, which is why he has to continue with this part of the plan.

He hears a door open behind him. It doesn't cause him to turn, and he punches the bag with all his strength, almost knocking the bag down. "O, honey, it really scares me you out there." He hears a whisper behind him.

At the voice, he stops tormenting the bag. He walks over to the motel room door, when he gets where he is standing directly in front of her. He kisses her forehead. "I'll come inside." He pushes her softly inside, and follows her, closing the door behind him.

"If you're still angry you can try to hook the bag up in here." She goes to sit on the bed.

He sits cross-legged at her feet by the edge of the bed. "We have to do this. This will work right, won't it."

She sets his head in her lap, and begins to play with her hair. "I think it will."

"And your not mad that this is a charade. I mean if you want we really can..."

She stops him by bending down and placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. "I don't want to get married right now. Plus, don't we basically do everything married couples do." She giggles softly, looking down as his face forms into a smirk.

"I still can't believe all we have to do is convince Morgan that we are married, and your whole family will get off our backs."

She rubs his shoulders. "It'll work. Now get up here, Stud, the storm is scaring me, and i need you to protect me."

"As you wish, m'lady."


	18. Masquarade

ch. 18 : masquarade

His hair slicked back slightly with hair gel, and wearing an ill fitting gray suit, and a pair of black coke-bottle thick glasses, that looked similar to the one he had thrown out many months ago, He paces the large decorated hallway.

Marilyn is sitting near by on a stone bench, looking up at the 8 foot ceiling. It felt weird to be back in her parents's house. One of the things that she discovered when she started dating Odin was that she was not the only one who didn't really like the house that her parents owned. She wasn't the only one who wanted to get the hell out of Georgia as fast as she could. Marilyn watches him for a second, playing with the small diamond ring on her hand, that was intended to look more like a cracker jack prize, than a wedding ring. She turns the band, looking at it from every angle. She isn't sure if she likes a ring being on her finger. Though, Odin had promised later if she wanted he would get her a nice ring, even if they didn't get married, a ring of her choosing, to wear on whatever finger she wanted. She wasn't sure if she wanted any jewelry though. Though later on, maybe she could look for something really unique if she decided that is what she wanted. Marilyn tilts her head at him, as he walks by her again. "You need to calm down."

"I hate looking like this." The anger that always seems to be in the back of his personality flares up for a bit. He is not looking at her when he says it. But he can tell that she probably wants him to calm down. He takes a deep meditative breath, and puts on a con man sort of smile.

"Come here, sit with me."

He walks over and sits beside her on the bench. He takes her hand.

"Don't be nervous."

"I just don't want them to backfire, and have them like me."

"I know." She turns and kisses the top of his forehead softly. "Just pretend you are playing a role. Try to be what people use to think you are, not the god you really are." She gives him a soft smile.

A butler opens a door hidden from view down the hallway. He walks toward the stiffly. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Miss Marilyn. The house has been a mess lately. The guard at the gate, told me that your parents have just come back from the country club with Miss Morgan, and they want you and your new husband to join them for brunch. So, if you will follow me this way."

"Sure, Gerald." Marilyn and Odin stand.

Odin lets go of her hand, and crocks his arm slightly, so he can properly escort her into the dinning room.

Ten minutes later, they are sitting in the dinning room, and one of the kitchen staff is passing out plates to the richards, and to Odin. Mariam Richards sits at one end of the table, and Robin sits at another end. It is a small table that only seats 6, made of black teak wood.

Odin is cutting the piece of chicken that was set in front on Marilyn.

Morgan sitting across from them makes a face at her twin. "I can't believe you are letting him cut your meat!" She takes a sip of water

"I am right here you know. I am not some inanimate object or the help." Odin sends her a delibrate icy glare. They had made a plan that it would be best to be not only the geek that Morgan hated so much, but also a very over protective ego maniac. Her sister was a very big person on women's rights occasionally, or liked to think that she is. And would definitely hate him if he acted liked they lived in a century before women had rights. All they needed was for Morgan to hate him and to object to him, and she would convince Mr. and Mrs. Richards that Odin was not a good catch for Marilyn, and that while Marilyn still saw him they would have nothing to do with her.

"Why not dear sister, he is my fiance, in two months he will be my husband, there is no reason why he shouldn't do anything he wants for me. He does own me." Marilyn gives her sister a sweet smile. She likes this pretending to not know that him owning her is not something bad.

Morgan almost spits out the water from her mouth. "Did you hear that dad?" There is a whine to her voice.

Robin Richards takes a bite of the asparagus on his plates, and chews it. He takes a sip of his wine, and swallow it. "That is just a joke between the two of you, right, Philip. You don't think after you marry her that you will own her."

"It is true, that are what marriage laws are for. After we are married, I can do anything I want to her. I can even kill her, and no one can do anything." At the last part, he chuckles in a way that could suggest that he could either be joking, or deadly serious.

"What?" Morgan's eyes go wide.

"He was just joking, weren't you dear?" Miriam asks him.

"Oh, course I was, I wouldn't kill her. But the other part i mean. That is the way the vows are written, where that once we recite them, and we are pronounced man and wife, she is my property." He adjusts his glasses. He lets _ and you can't make me change my bigot ways_ smile appear on his face.


	19. Best Laid plans

Part 19 : Best Laid Plans

After Brunch, after having a brief talk with her parents, Morgan goes off to see one of her boyfriends. And after Marilyn takes Odin on the tour of the house, Robin asks Odin if he wouldn't mind going into town to pick up a few things. Odin sees through this, but decides to go anyway, so he borrows one of the Richards cars at their request.

Miriam and Robin sit across from their daughter in the parlor,where they sip champange and Marilyn drinks club soda. Miriam gives a small smile to Marilyn. "Darling, you know for the most part, Philip is a charming young man, even though he is a bit geekish, but ..."

"Morgan hates him doesn't she." Marilyn says with a soft frown. She had this whole thing planned out in her head, and it was going how she planned. She had told Philip one version of how it would go, but since she knew her parents more than she. She knew what to expect.

"She despises him." Robin crosses his legs, straightening the pleat in his pants. "But you know how your sister is."

Marilyn nods. "I love Philip though, he is a great guy, but because she doesn't like him, she is going to throw a tantrum if she doesn't get what she wants. So, let me guess if I still want to marry Philip, she wants me cut off." She drains the rest of her club soda, and sets it on the coaster on the table.

Miriam nods her head. "You know we love you though, and we aren't going to really disown you."

"We just want people to think we did, especially Morgan." Robin finishes.

---

That night, Marilyn is sitting on the hotel bed, watching Odin. He is sitting on the other bed in the room, since the motel had given them a room with two doubles. He is taking his shirt off, he is going to take a shower soon. His thick glasses he has replaced with the almost translucent ones that he loves so much.

"I don't believe you, there is no way they just wrote you off with a big check, and are going to cut you completely out of your life." His hypnotizing blue eyes lock with hers.

"Okay, not completely, but it is going to seem like it. I-I..."

He walks over to her, cutting her off by kissing her forehead. "Look, just because my father is an asshole, and will just give me a check and rode me off, doesn't mean your family will. We may need them for money later on."

She looks up at him with sad eyes, "you aren't mad?" She feels there is something about this situation he is not telling her. He has gotten very good at being able to hide some of his stronger emotions at times like this, when he seems to have the upper advantage since he followed through with his end of the bargain.

He shakes his head. "I'm going to take a shower, and then, maybe we will play a game later."


	20. Coming to a heed

Chapter 20: Coming to a heed

The first cult isn't really much of a cult, it is more of a community farm, where Odin doesn't spend a lot of time. Most of the members are older people, who just want to escape from the hustle and bustle from the real world, which is what they advertised it as on purpose. They are able to acquire about 20 members from the age of 40-60.

Odin is busy traveling circuits for the self help seminars. While Marilyn runs the farm, and watches over the small amount of members there. They make a money by selling items made on the property, never touching the money that they have saved up from their parents. The years go by, and Odin comes back to the farm very excited. He has a plan that will help them have an official cult.

Slowly, the farmers begin to slowly die of some mysterious illness. And then, Odin and Marilyn head off to another area of their plan. Odin has decided that the best place to start a cult would be in Georgia, since there has to be a complete separation, and he is beginning to figure out how he can go about accomplishing it.

In 1995, after a bit of traveling and picking up odd jobs here and there, they pick the spot for the new cult. The plan is in the next few years they will look for younger people, and they would also watch the news for rash of big burglaries. But the most important thing is looking for members. The profile of the members is people who would go to those self help seminars, wanders, people who seem to be lost, and fearful of the world, and need much shelter.

---

Andrew Jung is one of the last members that Odin finds when he is searching through the gay bars for victims. Andrew is instantly intrigued by the life Odin presents him. By then, the pathway to enlightenment has been figured out by Odin, and he has just found a string of bizarre burglaries that he really likes.

Andrew is kept in seclusion for four days, as Odin teaches him the ways of the cult. Odin likes Andrew, and decides that he will be part of the party that will go on the first official spree.

Before they can embark though, there are several burglaries that they most commit, and then the day that Odin has been waiting for almost 20 years happens. The chance to start the ultimate separation.

---

Odin is not going to be the one who will kill his brother and his father, he has decided that Andrew is going to do it. Since, he has taken a liking to Andrew and he wants to prepare him for when Andrew will have to kill his own parents.

They enter the Nichols resident quietly, Odin has the plan figured out to the second. Two other cult members begin to slowly rummage through the drawers, this is supposed to bring down the Nichols, which it does. Unfortunately for them, Philip and Andrew are waiting by the stairs, and grab them instantly.


	21. A new pseudo recruit

Chapter 21: New Pseudo recruit

An: the dialogue used is as close to the actual dialogue used in the show as possible, until the line " And what did you do to get to the next level?" since that is where the scene ends.

After the killings, Odin is wandering around the camp aimlessly. He is causing fright in everyone. He knows that the feds are on to him, and in a way he has been expecting this. Even, though he likes Andrew, and he likes the fact that he is the God for the most part over these people, he is going to have to sacrifice them all. They have served their purpose, and now it was time to dispose of them. This doesn't even bother him, even the fact knowing they are bringing him a new recruit today.

He gets a call, that they are close to the camp, and he goes to wait in his tent for just the right moment to strike. A few minutes later, he enters the general reception area.

Sabrina is shows him into the tent. "This is our new minister of Information, Odin."

Odin is watching the new woman intently. The woman introduces herself as Sarah Bedford, but he can tell that she is lying.

"Do you need anything?" Sabrina asks calmly.

Sarah looks nervous, and looking around the place expecting something to jump out at her. "No…Thank you, I'm fine."

Odin dismisses Sabrina with a nod of the head, and walks closer to Sarah, making his voice hypnotizing. "Are you?

A look of total confusion shows on Sarah's face. "Excuse me?"

Odin walks a little closer, knowing that this is going to be a hard one, because her mind is definitely else where. "Are you fine?"

"Oh…yeah."

He motions with his hands to a bunch of pillows, "Please have a seat."

She finds a good pillow, and sits down. "Well, yeah, the ride was kind of bumpy, but why did you blindfold us?"

His gaze is on her intently, not blinking, a move he learned from a movie about Jesus. He gives her a soft smile, making sure between words also that he is smiling. " Well, Sarah, the world is a very dangerous place. We all have to protect ourselves. Don't you fear for your safety?"

Sarah looks distracted for a moment, and her eyes shift around the room. "Yes, I do."

Odin wonders what she fears for, what darkness she has seen. He is glad he started with this approach. " Sarah," his voice softens ever so slightly, " tell me do you feel that the people around you don't speak or think like you do?"

Sarah's response is quick. "Yes."

Odin's eyes softens a little, and he blinks ever so slightly, giving her a smile that she can interrupt as confident and scared. " Does that make you feel lonely?

"Yeah..Yeah it does."

His smile widens. " Sarah, everyone here felt just like you, except here we take our knowledge from the father. And that gives us a common bond of strength, love and unity."

Sarah seems to be contemplating this. "Who's the father?"

He can tell she was a curious one, and was prepared for the question. " There are beings at a higher level, Sarah, who have a greater capacity for helping us than we have for helping ourselves."

"Well, how would I meet the father?"

Odin smiles showing his teeth for a second, " You must demonstrate unconditional love, and devotion by ridding yourself of all attachments. We have a disciple who is getting ready to move to the next level soon. Which means there is an opening for a new disciple to enter the experience and begin her work."

Sarah smiles slightly, as if she caught him in a lie, "And what did you do to get to the next level?"

He grins at her, "Sarah, every path to the father is different as though we share things in common, we are also different beings set on different paths, and at the moment we are converging in the middle of our journey." He had expected she would probably try something like that. "If you don't think this is the place for you, then you are free to leave, no one is keeping you here Sarah." Odin is enjoying the fact that she is trying to act so coy, and naïve, when she knows what is going on as well as he does. He actually enjoys this, because he probably wasn't going to recruit her anyway, but it gives him something to do.

She nods. "You are probably right. I am not sure if I am ready for this."

Odin nods. "I will have Marilyn drive you home then, but oh course we will have to blindfold you so that you don't come back when you aren't ready."


	22. Aftermath

Chapter 22: Aftermath

Odin knew what he had to do once the FBI started figuring out about the cult. He didn't like the thought of having to do it. He knew it was the only way. The cult had not been what he had hoped anyway, and the feeling that he had expected from having all his attachments to his old life gone didn't leave him as happy as he thought. He wasn't sure where all his planning had gone wrong, he thought he had done everything he set out to do, but it seemed he had accomplished nothing.

The explosions had been planted under the camp grounds, before the building had gone up. None of the cult members knew about them, the only ones who knew were him and Marilyn. He would have the entire cult members gather in the main hall, where he was thinking of joining them later that day, a few seconds before the blast went off. In his plans the only two who would make it out would be Marilyn, and the lost brother Andrew who was in FBI custody at the moment.

He told Marilyn his plan one night, so she knew what was going to happen. They had a fight. Marilyn was against the idea on two grounds, which maybe they didn't need to use the explosives, and that she was not going to let Odin die. She didn't think anyone should have to be sacrificed.

Instead of answering her, he had walked out. Not angrily like he did after some of their fights, just in a very sad manner which worried her greatly. So, she followed her out, she agreed to allow him to continue, but she offered two alternatives to the plan which were as followed one that he would go with her, and two that they would be far from the camp when it happened.

He agreed.

A few days later, they got into one of the vans, and had instructed one of the other disciples to lead the wayward brother home, and Marilyn and he would go get some supplies so that they could celebrate the return of the brother to the flock, and possibly a new disciple reaching another level in their work.

---

Marilyn watched the blast on the news from a small hotel room. She sat on the bed, watching the whole thing as Philip sat on the floor with a far off look in his eyes. She waited till the end credits, and then went to sit beside him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders.

"I failed," He murmured softly.

"You didn't fail O—"

He stopped her. "Philip, I'm no good being Odin. I thought with the cult and the death of my family everything would be okay, and this urge to escaper who I am would disappear." A tear rolled down his cheek, and he made no effort to wipe it away.

She pulled him closer to her. "Whatever you decide to go by, I will love you for everything you are, and for everything you're not. Maybe all you need to do is stop running love." She picked up his chin and drew his face towards her, so that their eyes met. She kissed him lightly on the forehead. "I'll be with you every step of the way regardless."

He pulled her into a hug, "Without you, I don't know what I would do." He nuzzled her shoulder with his head softly.

She wrapped him into a hug. "You are my world, sweetheart. And I've been by your side through thick and thin, and here I will remain. Nothing will make me leave."

"Good, because I'm definitely going to need you," He whispered.

"I know." She kissed his hair, and held him tight as he begin to cry releasing a lot of emotions he had been holding back for almost 20 years.


End file.
